Fourth and Ninth for Daly and Enerson at Watkins Glen

Watkins Glen, NY (September 4, 2016) – Rookies Conor Daly and RC Enerson gave Dale Coyne Racing its best team finish of the season and its first double top 10 of the year on Sunday, placing fourth and ninth respectively at the IndyCar Grand Prix at the Glen.

Both Daly and Enerson gained quite a few positions at the start thanks to cars ahead of them spinning in Turn 1, with Daly moving up to 13th and Enerson sixth.

An untimely full course caution then caught Enerson out on Lap 15 when he was scheduled to make his first stop. Unfortunately for the 19-year-old he would find himself 19th, with his teammate fourth, when action resumed.

Daly held on to fourth place until his second pit stop on Lap 31, while Enerson continued to run 18th.

Both drivers then took advantage of a full course caution to make their final pit stop on lap 41, meaning they had to complete 19 laps with one tank of fuel instead of the usual 15. When the race went back to green on Lap 43, Daly was running 11th and Enerson 17th.

To make it to the end, Daly and Enerson were required to make what was a demanding fuel mileage number for a rookie. The pair went on to make it to the end all while passing cars and taking advantage of others pitting to cross the finish line in fourth and ninth.

Dale Coyne Racing will be back on track this Thursday for a one-day test at Sonoma Raceway ahead of the season finale on September 18th.What they have to say:Conor Daly – #18 Jonathan Byrd’s Hospitality & Restaurant Group
“I really just can’t believe that we ended up fourth! It was a back and forth race with all kinds of stuff going on. But our car was fast, we knew it all weekend. We just had horrible luck. At the end they said we were making the right fuel number and I was making up positions and then I was told we could go a little bit quicker, so one lap we used a bit more fuel and then they came on the radio and said ‘code red’. If we would’ve saved a little bit more on that one lap we maybe could have held off Helio. I had no idea where we were, third or fourth or fifth, but at the end of the day, I’ll take fourth!”RC Enerson – #19 Boy Scouts of America
“It’s pretty crazy. We had one killer start. We went from 11th to seventh just with people spinning off. I was on the push to pass, made a pass into the bus stop a little sideways and then held sixth for a long time. We then got caught out by the yellow, which for me was a big confidence destroyer. We were sitting at the back, the last running car. The team made the right call on the pit stop and we were just trying to hit the fuel number to make it to the end. It was pretty exciting. I think saving fuel is more of a mental thing. You have to keep reminding yourself to lift before a corner and then you catch yourself and realize you should’ve saved fuel in that last corner. It was tough but we were able to fly up the field there at the end.”